Our speaker last week was Molly Comstock, who operates Colfax Farm, and who spoke about the difficult challenges of small-scale farming. Her operation adheres to the CSA model (Community-Supported Agriculture), which is an arrangement to buy food that is grown or produced by local farms and businesses. Molly noted that she was a nomadic farmer, relying on leased land that does not provide for long-term security, and stated that the booming real estate market has hurt farmers, pricing them out of the market. She advocated for BCLT (Berkshire Community Land Trust) which provides incentives to save land to support farming. Members interested in learning more about BCLT may contact them directly (P.O. Box 276, Gt. Barrington, 01230, c/o Harry Conklin Fund) or contact Molly at colfaxfarm@gmail.com.
Read Across America is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, which is the birthday of Dr. Suess. The Club will be seeking readers for third grade classrooms. Sign-up sheet will be passed around at this week's meeting.
Last week VP Alex Reczkowski introduced a new feature for our meetings, Member Minute, which gives a member one minute to give a short overview about him/herself. John Hudnall provided our first installment, speaking about working in the family-owned business of CT Brigham, that provides office and sanitation supplies to the greater Berkshire County, and where they work under the motto, "We touch a new bottom every day."
The Wine Pairing Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, March 19th at Mazzeo's. Tickets are $100 per person, with 100% of the profits from the fundraiser going to a memorial scholarship for Dr. John Reynolds. Because of Covid restrictions there would be a limit of 75 ticket sold, so RSVP pronto.
Rotary District 7890 has challenged all Clubs in the district to participate in a Day of Service on Saturday, April 9. With Service Above Self at the heart of all we do, we are in a unique position to provide meaningful, participatory volunteer experiences for Rotary while introducing prospective members to our clubs. Every club has been challenged to plan and host at least one practical and action-oriented Rotary Day of Service which as stated above will be April 9th. The event should address a challenge facing our community that fits in one or more of Rotary’s areas of focus and brings together volunteers from within and outside of Rotary. This is a chance to create meaningful volunteer opportunities for families and partnering organizations in our area, regardless of their profession or affiliation with Rotary. Our Club will be doing a first responder appreciation - coffee, doughnuts, or other treats for local police, fire and ambulance services. Joan DiMartino is circulating the signup sheets at our meetings, and Jeff Whitehouse is assisting with coordinating what to bring.
Please RSVP your intent to Joan DiMartino (joan.dimartino@gd-ms.com) by 12:00 noon Tuesday so she may give Mazzeo's a head count. If unable to attend, our luncheon meetings are also available live on Zoom. If you cannot be there in person, consider streaming the event via the following link:https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82492414654?pwd=ODJaSUdkY0pPS3pNbHRsdFhqWjh0QT09 (Meeting ID: 824 9241 4654 and Passcode: 514940). Sometimes it takes a few moments to set up Zoom, so please be patient........ and please, if you've committed to attending, please don't neglect to attend unless there's a crisis.
The Auction is now scheduled for Saturday, April 2nd, at Berkshire Hills Country Club. Please gather up your items and get them to Molari's so they may be entered into the database in preparation for our best auction ever!
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